


Passageways to Windows

by ziskandra



Series: Secondary Codex: A Mass Effect Fic Collection [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 06:56:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10826100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziskandra/pseuds/ziskandra
Summary: They're teammates, lovers, partners.More snapshots from Liam and Sara's relationship, written for a 'writing prompts for days' meme on Tumblr!





	1. attention

Liam awakens in the medbay, a splitting pain racing through his leg when he instinctively moves to get up. He flops back on the bed with a groan, covering his eyes against the harsh light of the room and wishing he could remember how he wound up here. He feels someone place a hand on his good foot and immediately assumes that it’s Lexi before he focuses his gaze properly and well, that’s definitely not an asari.

His vision swims, but once it rights itself, he realises that it’s Ryder sitting at the edge of the bed. Sara Ryder, the human Pathfinder. Their eyes meet, and he braces himself for a lecture. Yes, he’d been reckless again. He’d argue it was necessary. But all right. He’d try to be more careful next time.

However, the reprimand never comes. Instead, the Pathfinder smiles, corners of her eyes crinkling in amusement. “You fainted, right into my arms,” she starts with a laugh, patting his foot. When she continues speaking, her voice is slightly more breathless, in that embarrassed, endearing way of hers. “You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.” 

A joke. She’s making a joke. Unfortunately for Liam, his prepared defence is already on the tip of his tongue, and it spills out anyway. “I’ll be more careful next time,” he promises. 

Ryder arches an eyebrow. “All right,” she says, just as the door slides open. The Pathfinder looks over, exclaims the doctor’s name. “Lexi! I’ll get out of your way.” 

It’s only as Liam watches her retreating back that he realises that Ryder had been waiting for him to wake up. 

Wonders if it means what he thinks it does.


	2. layers

It is easy to forget that Sara is a biotic if you don’t fight alongside her in battle. With some people, like Cora, a biotic is who they _are_ , an irrefutable part of their being. They are shaped by it, formed by the dancing blue energy under their skin. Some people, like Sara, compartmentalise, compartmentalise, compartmentalise. 

Liam remembers being there when Cora had asked Sara about her training, and Sara had told the other vanguard that she’d always been biotically sensitive but had never bothered to train her abilities until she’d enlisted in the Alliance. 

“And then?” Cora had asked, still rather perplexed by Sara’s stance on the topic.

Sara had shrugged. “A good soldier uses every weapon at her disposal.”

It’s the way Liam knows Sara has come to regard SAM now. She appreciates everything he does, _can_ do, but it doesn’t mean she likes it. Liam had always been a bit of a sci-fi geek; the idea of having an artificial intelligence linked up to one’s brain? Cool. It’s only once they start getting serious, real serious, that Liam realises how much it bothers Sara. They’d been talking about it late one night, when Liam had brought up the fact that you know, she didn’t _need_ to send SAM away when things started getting hot and heavy. Sara had bitten her lip, then clarified in a quiet voice, “I’m doing this for myself, Liam.”  
  
As it turns out, Sara really hates being so intimately linked to what is essentially another sapient being. “I can’t hold it against him,” she’d admitted. “God, it’s like having another younger brother,” she’d continued, as though Scott were five years younger than mere minutes. “He didn’t ask for this anymore than I did.”   
  
SAM might unnerve her, but she’s never treated the AI as though he’s not a person. _Less than_. Still, somehow, Liam had felt that he hadn’t been getting the whole story.  
  
It had trickled out through another conversation with Cora, another biotic bonding moment that had left Liam feeling like a voyeur for overhearing. “You only ever charge and punch,” the older woman had noted as they’d wiped kett blood off their weapons at the end of another battle.   
  
Sara had simply shrugged, as though she had nothing more to add to the conversation. Cora had persisted. “Would you be interested in learning more?”   
  
“No,” Sara had responded, with a short, sharp shake of the head. “I don’t like it. My biotics. What they–” She’d cut herself off, huffed in that way she did when she was getting emotional and didn’t want to be. She was forthcoming enough when she wasn’t wearing her role as Pathfinder as armor. Some days, she wore it more and more often. Liam had watched, fascinated, as Sara had peeled that layer off on the battlefield in a way that she, as a soldier, never did.  
  
Sara hadn’t continued for several long moments, and when she had, Liam had seen that she was just one misspoken word away from crying. “It’s just. You know. Mom’s research killed her.”   
  
Liam would never forget the way Cora’s face had dropped.  
  
It is easy to forget that Sara is a biotic if you don’t fight alongside her in battle. Biotics might be an irrefutable part of Cora’s being but she’s thankfully, mercifully, stopped asking Sara about her own. Sara continues to charge and punch and bash kett in the head with the butt of her shotgun. She might hate her biotics, but Liam thinks she looks beautiful anyway, both with the blue energy dancing under her skin and the rest of the time. Especially the way she looks at him as though it’s just two of them, even when they’re in public. Even when he’s not the only one she’s talking to.   
  
Sara is glowing and blue and planning on scaling the side of a mountain instead of using the perfectly viable path around. “Race you?” she asks, eyes glittering.   
  
“Don’t let me hold you back,” Liam chuckles in return.  
  
In the corner of his eyes, he sees a flash of blue.   
  
Cora’s going to win, but it hardly even matters. 


	3. growth

“Nice shot!” Cora calls over the rain of gunfire. Sara knows it’s not directed at her. She hasn’t been doing much shooting lately.   
  
“Thanks!” Liam shouts through the din, letting loose one last round into the last kett standing. Sara makes her way over, lips pursed in amusement.

“Don’t compliment him too much, Cora,” she scolds, “he’ll get a big head. Bigger than it is already, I mean.”   
  
The lieutenant shrugs. “I thought he could use the encouragement.”   
  
Liam pipes up as soon as Cora’s finished speaking. “Hey! You know that’s just the hair.”  
  
Sara scoffs, waves a hand in Liam’s general direction. “His ego is so visible, I can almost _watch_  it grow.” Her gaze drops to his crotch, lingers.  
  
“Oh, I get it. Another dick joke,” Liam sighs.  
  
Cora snorts, half derisive, half amused.  
  
“Whew, tough crowd!” Sara says with a shake of her head. She’ll have to work harder next time.


	4. smile

“Did I say that out loud?”      
  
Liam’s face breaks into an all-out grin. Sara looks so embarrassed it’s as though she wants to bury her face in her hands and leave it there.   
  
“Mind repeating that one? Just might be some people on the other side of the planet didn’t hear you,” Liam laughs. It’s funny because usually _he’s_ the loud one.   
  
Sara shakes her head firmly. “Nope! I’ve embarrassed myself enough already today.”   
  
Cora boosts herself back up the cliff, having been separated from the others during their most recent fight. Slinging her weapon back into its holster, she asks, an eyebrow arched, “Aw, what did I miss?”  
  
Liam sees Sara’s shoulders sink in relief, but he’s not going to let her off that easy. “Oh, you know, the usual,” he chuckles. “Just Sara here telling me I’m cute when I smile,” he says, flashing Cora an example thereof. She does not look as impressed as he’d hoped. “ _And_ that she’ll…what did you say? Kiss it _right off_ my face when we get back to the ship. Right off!”   
  
Sara is already moving, but not fast enough that Liam doesn’t catch her words. “Not any more I won’t,” she mutters.   
  
“Ugh,” Cora sighs.   
  
Liam holds his up his hands in resignation. “Hey! You _asked_.”


	5. stars

Sara is leaning against the window in her quarters, staring out into the vast not-so-empty space. She thinks she’s alone until she hears featherlight footsteps cross the room towards her.

Liam must think he’s being sneaky. Still, he doesn’t seem too put-out when instead of letting out a gasp of surprise when he snakes his hands around her waist from behind, she instead leans into the embrace.

He rests his chin atop her head. Even though she can’t see his face, she can still feel his smile. “Hello, you,” he says, one hand toying with the hem of her hoodie.

 “Hi,” she answers, taking in a deep breath and revelling in the warmth of his chest at her back. “I missed you.”  
  
He cants his head downwards to press a kiss to her hair. “Now who’s being the hopeless one?” he murmurs.  
  
Sara smirks. “I’m just in one of those moods, I guess. Looking at the stars and…” she trails off with a half-shrug; she’s never been good at putting her own feelings into words.  
  
Liam attempts to finish her thought. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? Thinking about everything that could _be_  out there?”  
  
It’s not what Sara had been thinking; she gives a small shake of the head in response. “Not that. Well, maybe that. The universe is so large, and I am so _small_. And it just makes you wonder, how much does anything we do matter?”  
  
As he begins to formulate a response, Liam’s hand skirts upwards, over the smooth planes of Sara’s stomach. “Matters to me,” he says quietly, “and a hell of a lot of other people. Not many could do what you’ve done.”  
  
Sara lets out a shuddering breath, feeling warmth rise to the surface of her skin underneath the path trailed by Liam’s fingers. “I know that,” she answers easily, but her voice wavers as she continues. “But do I believe it? Not really. Sometimes I close my eyes and I see myself back in the Milky Way. Everything here feels like a dream.”   
  
Leaning in close to her ear, Liam whispers, “Not that bad a dream, is it?” Hot air skirting her skin sends her stomach swooping. His fingers continue trailing upwards, until they’re resting in the valley between her breasts.  
  
“There are some good bits,” Sara admits; breathless and slightly distracted, she rocks back into him, pressing her ass up against his hips. She feels him almost _almost_  begin to respond in kind, but then, he keeps himself in check. She wonders where he learnt that sort of self-restraint.   
  
“I mean it, Sara. You can look out there and think about everything you could’ve done better. Torture yourself over it, if you want. What really matters though, at the end of the day,” he continues, tapping two fingers against her ribcage, “is what’s in _here_. Yeah, the universe is all around us, but…” His hand shifts, moving to cup a breast. “ _You_ are my universe.”  
  
Sara flushes, laughs, finally twists around to face Liam. “Liam Kosta, what are you–” she can’t even get the whole sentence out without laughing again. “We are banning you from the cheesy romance vids. Indefinitely.” She stands on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.   
  
Liam chuckles in resignation. “Was worth a shot. What can I say? I adore you.”   
  
“Me too,” Sara answers, soft smile turning impish as she wraps her legs around Liam’s and attempts to hoist herself up around his waist.


	6. party

Sara has never been one for crowds. When the Initiative party is announced, a rare collaboration between Tann and Addison, Sara’s first instinct is to refuse to go. Liam laughs when he first hears her protestations, but his brow knits when he realises that Sara is being _serious._ “You kind of have to go,” he reminds her, “you’re the star of the show.”  

“I know,” she groans. “Which is precisely why I don’t want to. It’s not too bad, being at those sorts of things when you can keep to the sidelines and make your exit the moment things get too boring. This? This is going to be _hell_.” 

Liam offers a sympathetic chuckle, but Sara knows he’s going to try and pep her up for the event anyway. “Think of the free alcohol?” he suggests. 

Sara frowns. “I’m not eighteen anymore. That’s not going to work.“ 

He snorts. “Ah, yes, you, so mature and worldly.”

It’s a joke, she knows it’s a joke, but her face drops slightly as she thinks – _really_ thinks – about everything that’s happened since then. Eighteen seems like so long ago; she’d been a different person back then. Different goals, different dreams. She’d wanted to work her way up the ranks of the Alliance, wanted to explore the galaxy and maybe make a few discoveries along the way. Had got everything she’d wanted, and then some. Lost a lot as well. 

Gain skills, find work. Her career counsellor at school had never prepared her for what would come _next_. 

Still, she doesn’t want to ruin the mood, so instead she shrugs, a small half-smile on her face. “Truth be told? I feel like I’ve aged a decade in the past year alone.”

Liam is watching her curiously, witnessing the emotions play out on her face but knowing when she’s not in the mood to have her feelings discussed. “Tell me about it,” he says softly, before his voice rises in volume and he continues. “Still, though, you’re going to this party. If I have to go, so do you. Hey, how about this: just pretend to be my date." 

Sara laughs, shakes her head. "Liam, you idiot, I don’t have to pretend. We’re _dat-ing_." 

He laughs in agreement, one hand at the back of his head. Sara gets a sudden sinking feeling. "This means you’re coming, right?”

“Damn it,” Sara swears. She’s been out-played. “Fine. But the first opportunity we get, we _leave_." 

"Sounds good to me,” Liam agrees, reaching for Sara’s hand. They’re lying on her bed in her quarters on the Tempest and to be honest, some days she kind of just wants to stay here forever. Here’s nice. “Seriously though. How you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” she says, easily, smoothly, tucking her knees towards her stomach. “Mostly, I still can’t believe that Tann and Addison are working on something together. Addison _so_ doesn’t strike me as the party type. Think she’ll get drunk?" 

"Now there’s a mental image I didn’t need,” Liam laughs, and they lapse into a companionable silence side-by-side and she’s almost asleep when Liam nuzzles in close and breathes hot and heavy over the shell of her ear. “Love you,” he says. 

It’s easy enough to return the sentiment, but Sara’s words, muddled by sleepiness, get all mixed up in the brain. What comes out instead is a slightly surprised, “What for?”

“Do I need a reason? When you love someone, you don’t just stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy… even then. Especially then." 

Sara snorts. "I thought we banned you from the romance vids." 

Liam shrugs, runs a hand down her arm. "What can I say? Meant it." 

Nuzzling in close, Sara says, "Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you too.”


	7. reapers

As it turns out, there’s no easy way to talk about the end of the galaxy as they knew it. Sara finds she’s looking more at her coffee cup than Liam as she recounts the details of her father’s final encrypted files. “Something big was coming,” she summarises, murmurs more like, still unable to look Liam in the eye. “Something big _came._ And we just missed it.” She swallows. “I’m sorry. I know you still had family back in the Milky Way.”  
  
Her fingers drum anxiously against the table. Liam reaches across and rests a hand upon hers, stilling her nervous energy. “Were you ever going to tell me?” he asks, and in that moment, Sara chances a look up at his face. To her surprise, the betrayal she expected to see _isn’t there._ Instead, Liam’s face is lit up with concern. “I know it’s been eating at you. You didn’t need to keep it to yourself. Understand why you did, but…” 

She laughs shakily, because if she doesn’t laugh, she might cry. “I don’t know. How was I just…supposed to spring that upon someone? ‘Glad we made it, but everyone you loved probably died terrible deaths. Sorry about that.”  
  
Liam’s hand tightens upon her own. “You don’t know that for certain. There were people fighting. You said.”   
  
Sara hangs her head, runs her thumb over the handle of her coffee cup. “It sounded _bad_ , Liam. Your parents…”  
  
“Are gone,” he says simply, fixing Sara with a small, sad smile. “It’s not that I don’t miss them. Never a day goes by that they’re _not_  on my mind. But I’ve been coping with that knowledge ever since I got to Andromeda. They’re gone. And even if these Reapers did come for them…” He shrugs. “They would’ve gone down fighting. I know that.”  
  
Sara worries at her lip, not entirely convinced that Liam’s as at peace with the news as he says he is. His gaze softens. “Besides,” he continues, raising her hand to his face to press a kiss between her knuckles, “I’m looking forward now. Dad always told me, ‘you’ll know you’ve met the right person when you’ll give up everything for a chance of a future with them’. And what can I say? I found her.” 

“ _Liam_ ,” Sara exclaims, feeling the colour rise in her cheeks. It’s strange how heart-felt declarations of love like this can make her blush more than the raunchiest of jokes. She runs a hand over her face as though it will help dissipate the built up heat she finds there. “I don’t know what to say. I just…don’t know what to do with this information. Still don’t. Not everyone is going to take it as well as you did.”   
  
“Look. I’m not saying that the rest of the Initiative is ready now, or that they’ll ever be as ready as you like. Just promise me one thing.”  
  
 _Anything_ , she wants to say, but instead she just leans in, looks into his eyes, and nods.   
  
“Make sure you’re ready as well.”  
  
Sara scoffs, smiles. “Okay,” she assures him.  
  
She wonders if that day will ever come.


	8. nightmare

It is the middle of the night when Sara wakes, heart thumping painfully in her chest. For a moment, she debates waking Liam at all. He’s here and safe, warm and real. But on the other hand, she needs comfort and support.   
  
Deciding that he won’t mind being woken for this, she curls around him, one arm curving around his bare torso. She’d always preferred being the big spoon. ( _Jetpack!,_ she’d exclaimed the first time, jumping so enthusiastically on the spot she’d almost launched them both out of bed.)

  
“Liam?” she asks quietly against his skin, but he is fast asleep. He makes a little noise that sounds like half of her name, at best, but does not stir. She’ll have to try harder, she decides; the panic building in her chest isn’t going away on its own. She jostles his arm with her fingers. He is so warm, so unlike the way he’d felt in her dream. “Liam, honey, wake up.”   
  
With one last shake, Liam’s eyes begrudgingly flicker open, still half-dazed from sleep. It takes him a moment to take in his surroundings; they’ve only started living together so recently, the fact that this is _home_ hasn’t quite sunk in yet. “Sara?” he asks, rolling over so they face each other, expression finally shifting into unguarded concern when their eyes properly meet.   
  
She bites her lip to stop it from quivering, shoves a flat palm against his chest. “You idiot. Don’t do that to me again.”   
  
His brow furrows, perplexed. He’s still not properly awake. “Real-Liam and Dream-Liam are two different people,” he counters, “wasn’t that what we decided?”  
  
(Dream-Liam had once eaten the very last of Sara’s special chocolates. Sara had yet to allow Liam to live it down, despite Liam’s best efforts.

  
It hadn’t been one of those dreams, though, and Sara finds her resolve weakening.)  
  
Reaching for one of Liam’s hands and entwining their fingers together, she whispers into the space between them, “I thought you were _dead_.”  
  
Though still half-asleep, Liam’s response is immediate. He draws her close and tight, pulling her into a hug. “I’m right here, love. And I’m not going anywhere.”  
  
“Promise?” she asks.  
  
Liam lets out a little snore in response.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to hang out with me and talk about Mass Effect Andromeda/send me prompts in future? Catch me on Tumblr @ commspecialist!


End file.
